BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FOUNDER and Director of the Community Achievers Project (CAP), Victoria Baucom said the local organisation has recently gotten further recognition and a boost to its agricultural efforts.
Baucom told SKNVibes that CAP was selected to participate in the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Partners of the Americas Farmer to Farmer (FTF) Programme, which commences from tomorrow (Jan. 8) and will conclude on Friday (Jan. 21).
“The FTF Programme links technical experts from the United States of America to small and medium sized producers to help increase productivity, profitability and access to markets in Latin America and the Caribbean. So far, the FTF has worked in Haiti, Nicaragua, Guyana and the Dominican Republic,” Baucom said.
She also said that the FTF Programme promotes economic growth, increase food security and protects the hemisphere’s natural resources.
“Now St. Kitts will benefit from this programme through CAP and it is an ideal opportunity for our organisation to teach our youths, ages six to 17 years, technologies in organic agriculture that will help preserve our fertile soil to provide healthy crops to our people. It is also our hope that our youths, as future leaders, will use this technology for the benefit of St. Kitts,” she added.
CAP’s Director indicated that in addition to training the youths, they are also inviting farmers in St. Kitts to participate in the two-week programme.
She was high in praise of Sydney ‘Cuppie’ Berkeley, who since 2007 had allowed CAP to use sections of his ‘Riches of the Earth’ farm in Half Way Tree. At that farm, Baucom had taken over 100 at-risk youths from Basseterre and surrounding areas to teach them organic agriculture as taught to Berkeley by his grandfather.
Since its inception in 2005, CAP has made significant progress in educating primary school children. Baucom, who, in the early days, had used her Central street home in Basseterre for an after school programme for some children in her immediate surroundings, said it was originally designed to assist children in reading.
Some two years later, CAP’s scope was broadened with the inclusion of English, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science, as well as small agricultural initiatives, skills-training and crafts.
In early 2009, the project brought together a number of volunteers to assist the children in the various areas of study of which Baucom viewed the assistance by all beneficiaries as “very important”.
Baucom said crime is on the increase and it is a national problem in which it is incumbent upon all citizens and residents to assist in finding solutions. She also noted that the educational project had encounters with parents, who often did not exhibit positive parenting skills, and has been challenged by the social dynamics of the communities from which the students came.
She however claimed it is not a hopeless situation and opined that people should not rely on the government for everything.
“The government can’t do everything; it is up to the stakeholders to work together and address the problem. We can do it! This is a small island! There are a lot of problems, but with the educated and talented individuals in this country, we can address the problems and make a difference!”
In mid-2009, CAP had ascended to another rung on the ladder of its agriculture development programme with the production of canned pumpkin soup.
Baucom told this media house that the soup was made from pumpkins grown by the children and Chef Ranger had taught them how to make it, using his “own secret recipe”. She also said that it was canned by Anling Lee and her staff and labelled by Alic Plichta.
She also commended the Taiwanese Embassy on the assistance its staff had given to CAP over the years.
